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First off, thank you for choosing the Premium Tier on MyExpatTaxes! Here are some tips to make your filing experience as smooth as possible.

Schedule your 30-minute call with a Tax Professional

After you upgrade, you will get a unique link to schedule a one-time 30-minute call with a tax professional. Please note that additional calls are possible, however may incur additional fees.

Prepare for your Tax Professional Call

While you can definitely just join the call without any preparation, we recommend that you help us by providing more information prior to the call for our review. This will speed up the entire tax filing process so you can check US taxes off your to-do list quicker!

At a minimum, we will need to know the basics

So please start at
https://app.myexpattaxes.com/wizard/introductionwork
and continue through the app as much as possible, at least through to the tax filing status page
https://app.myexpattaxes.com/wizard/taxfilingstatus

Let us know what type of income you have

You can select the US Tax Forms you have here:
https://app.myexpattaxes.com/wizard/ustaxforms

You can select the types of income you have here:
https://app.myexpattaxes.com/wizard/grossincome

Upload relevant tax documents

If you are a new MyExpatTaxes client, welcome! Please make sure you upload any prior US tax returns you have (if none, all fine) in the documents section.

If you are returning MyExpatTaxes client, no need to upload any prior year returns, we already have them here:
https://app.myexpattaxes.com/wizard/previousyearspdfdownload

In addition to that, you should upload any relevant US Tax Forms or Local Tax Returns.

For self-employed clients and those with rental income:
Please do not upload multiple receipts or spreadsheets with income and expenses.
As mentioned on our pricing page: https://www.myexpattaxes.com/pricing/
The Premium Tier Package is only available if your financial records and bookkeeping are up to date and organized in a usable manner for your US tax preparation.

If you need support organizing financial statements including bank statements, additional fees will apply.

While we are happy to help calculate total income, major expenses, and foreign taxes paid, you will be responsible for calculating any misc. expenses for business and rental income.

Of course, if you are unsure, you can upload what you have and we'll run through it in the meeting with you to determine what is relevant.

Want a fast turnaround on your US Tax Return?

If you are looking to finish up your US taxes asap, then we recommend you go through the entire app from start to finish, enter all your income, and then you will instantly get your draft return at checkout. From there, review your draft return and give us any feedback you have when prompted.

Then in our 30-minute video meeting with you, we can quickly go through the open points and give you a revised and final return within 24 hours assuming all the information needed is given to us.

Happy Filing! We can't wait to work with you!

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The main difference between the Premium and Professional Tiers is basically the amount of support you will receive. With Premium, you will receive personal support and our tax professionals will manually enter into the software everything for you after you supply all the required documentation to us.

The Premium Tier also yields more consulting / audit coverage, including a 30-minute conference call to discuss your situation. If this sounds like the support you need and you want a more thorough review than the Base plan, you need to upgrade to this higher support Tier using the "UPGRADE" button at the top right corner of every page when signed into your MyExpatTaxes account.

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MyExpatTaxes is trusted by thousands of US expats, every year. We have top security standards and it's easy to get started. Plus. we're the tax software that already includes FBAR filing!

Featured in Forbes, Business Insider, and Yahoo! Finance to name a few. MyExpatTaxes is award-winning tax software for everyone.

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We offer a two-factor accuracy check system. This means that our software looks for errors, and then you get to look at everything for a final check before it is e-filed.

With MyExpatTaxes, you’re in complete control. You can save, go back, edit & update anytime.

When finishing up with MyExpatTaxes, we give you a draft of your return, and you can let us know where edits need to be made. Then our tax team gives a final check before sending it to be e-filed.

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When you’re a US Citizen or Green Card Holder living abroad, you’re required to file US taxes to the IRS every year if you reach the income filing threshold. However, filing US taxes doesn’t always mean that you have to pay taxes. In most cases, you need to report your information.

How does that happen? When you pay taxes in your adopted country, you probably won’t owe any US taxes because of certain expat tax benefits.

For example, you could use the Foreign Tax credits against your US income. Another option is to use Foreign Earned Income Exclusion to exclude your foreign wages from US taxation. 

However, there are some instances why you would pay US taxes to the IRS:

  • Have US-sourced income, which is over the standard deduction, thus subject to US income tax
  • Have US-sourced income with no federal taxes withheld
  • Do not pay enough foreign income tax on unearned foreign income, which is still subject to US taxation (e.g., capital gains on foreign property sold)
  • You’re subject to self-employment tax, and there’s no Totalization Agreement in the country you’re in.

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There are a few reasons why you’re due for a refund on your US tax return, even if you’re not living in the US.

  • Unclaimed stimulus checks
  • Additional child tax credit
  • If you have US-sourced income and had federal withholdings
  • If you paid estimated taxes on prior-year filing
  • Premium Tax Credit

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The negative sign in line 8 shows that we’ve used the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion on your return.

You can find the computation in Schedule 1 of the return, the Other Income Statement (at the end), and Form 2555.

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Each Form 1116 has a Regular and an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) version, tied to Form 6251. This AMT tax calculation is always run in the background to avoid taking too many credits or deductions.

As you have both General and Passive income, there are 2 Form 1116s, each with two versions. We always track foreign tax credits, and it is part of the standard tax package.

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If you have used the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) in your previous year, some instances revoking it for a specific tax year and claiming the Foreign Tax Credit (FTC) would be beneficial. Some of the few instances are:

  • When you want to claim the child tax credit
  • When you want to contribute to IRA
  • When you’re paying your correct taxes, and you’re in a country that has a higher tax rate than the US

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With Form 2555, you cannot claim the Additional Child Tax Credit refund. However, with Form 1116, you can.

Here at MyExpatTaxes, our expat tax software allows you to claim the tax credit and will help you determine whether you can receive the new fully refundable credit of $3,000-$3,600 on your taxes.

We can also help you start using the Foreign Tax Credit to receive the Child Tax Credit instead of the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. Learn more about the Child Tax Credit for American families.

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You cannot contribute to your IRA if almost all your taxable compensation is excluded via Foreign Earned Income Exclusion/Form 2555. Remember, Form 2555/FEIE This form is also not a required expat tax form – you can use either Form 2555 or Form 1116 (as used in your tax package) to offset US taxes.

Instead, it may be more beneficial to claim the FTC (Foreign Tax Credit) since it can bring better results than the FEIE and still allow you to contribute to your IRA as a US citizen abroad.

As an American abroad, when you claim the Foreign Tax Credit, you will declare your net self-employment income or wages as taxable. Both will allow you to open up and contribute to an IRA account in the US. Plus, the Foreign Tax Credit gives a tax reduction in the United States from any tax amount paid to the country you work and/or reside in, so it can still eliminate your US tax liability to $0 as FEIE would generally do.

Saving for retirement as an American abroad by having an IRA helps with financial security for your future. As you are coming into retirement, you know you will have money to live off of due to your efforts in early investing. 

Learn more about IRS contribution limits and retirements topics or about revoking the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.

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